Mushroom & Cauliflower Yin Yang Soup

Anyone who ever had the Mushroom & Cauliflower soup at Sinn’s Restaurant in Wembley Square, Cape Town will know what I was trying to achieve here ! That soup was one of those meals … You know the ones, where you think about it for days, weeks or in this case, years afterwards. So I had no choice, but to try and recreate it … Is it as good as the original? In my eyes … sadly No, but its a close second and did bring me some comfort 🙂

Yield: 6

For the Mushroom Soup:

1 Onion, chopped

4 Sprigs of Thyme, chopped finely

2 Garlic Cloves, crushed to a paste

400 grms Mixed mushroom selection, chopped

50grms Dried porcini mushrooms soaked in 2 cups of water for 30 minutes

50 grms Butter

250ml Vegetable Stock

250ml Cream

Salt & Black Pepper for seasoning

Method:

Sweat the onion in a little olive oil for 2 minutes before adding the garlic, thyme and butter. Cook until the butter has melted and the garlic is no longer raw (approximately 2 – 3 minutes). Add the fresh mushrooms & dried mushrooms along with the water the mushrooms were soaking in and the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to food processor and blend, while slowly adding the cream. Season with salt & pepper, taste and adjust seasoning until you are happy.

For the Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

A few glugs of olive oil

2 Onions, chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, crushed to a paste

125mls Dry White Wine

1 Large head cauliflower, stalks removed & chopped

1 Litre Chicken Stock

Salt & White Pepper for seasoning

Method:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the onions and sweat gently until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the garlic and wine and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Stir in the cauliflower and chicken stock and raise heat to bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 or so minutes until the cauliflower is soft. Transfer to food processor and blend until very smooth, should take a few minutes. You might have to do the soup in batches if your processor is not big enough. Transfer back to the pot and stir in salt & pepper, taste and adjust seasoning until you are happy !

Plating Up :

Now for the Yin and the Yang … Its actually easier than it looks … get two cups / mugs of equal size and fill one with Mushroom Soup and the other with Cauliflower Soup, pour them into a soup bowl, from either side simultaneously, then simply place your hands on either side of the bowl and give the bowl a quick swirl and Voila!

Garnish ideas: I kept a few of the more exotic looking mushrooms aside and sautéed in some butter. I cut a few cauliflower florets very thinly and did the same thing. Also chopped up some chives really finely with some parsley and mixed with olive oil and then drizzled this over the soup.